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First Year Experience

The First Year Experience Program helps students transition to college by:

offering classroom opportunities that maximize academic success;

building positive relationships among faculty, staff and students;

and providing campus-wide resources tailored to first-year students.

Faculty and staff help students understand the value and usefulness of a liberal arts education so that they can have a richer learning experience. Students in the program learn the differences between the academic expectations in high school and college and perform better academically.

In and out of the classroom, faculty and staff prepare students to become lifelong learners, responsible citizens and community leaders. For example, some classes include a service learning component, where students participate in out-of-class activities to learn the real-world value of the classes they are taking. Other classes might feature assignments asking students to apply what they are learning to a new problem or challenge.

The centerpiece of our First-Year Experience Program is LEC 100, our one-credit, first-year courses that focus on the skills students need for academic and career success. These much-needed skills may include:

Note-taking

Time management

Financial management

Critical reading

Using technology for educational purposes

Number sense/math anxiety

LEC 100 not only helps students in their transition to college, but it also counts towards their associate degree. For more information on the specific LEC 100 courses offered on your campus, see the online course schedule on your campus website or ask your advisor.